Referees' chief Keith Hackett has revealed it is likely to be 'a
couple of weeks' before Rob Shoebridge takes charge of another match
after his blunder during the Coca Cola Championship match between
Crystal Palace and Bristol City.

Shoebridge paid the
price for his failure to award Palace a goal in the game at Ashton Gate
on Saturday as tomorrow's league clash between Plymouth and Cardiff at
Home Park was taken from him. His assistant Chris Knowles was also removed from taking charge of the game.

Meanwhile Bristol City manager Gary Johnson has hit back at claims
from Eagles boss Neil Warnock and chairman Simon Jordan that he and his
side are 'cheats' and believes it is his club, not Palace, that are owed an apology from Hackett.

Before: Freddie Sears prepares to shoot

In the net: the ball is clearly over the line

Johnson has been told by the match assessor that referee Rob
Shoebridge did not award Freddie Sears' phantom 'goal' because of 'an
infringement'.

Jordan and Warnock believe Johnson should have told the official it was a goal, or
allowed Palace to score immediately, while referees chief Hackett has apologised
to the Selhurst Park club for the mistake and temporarily relieved Shoebridge of his duties.

Striker Freddie Sears looked to have given his side the lead
after 34 minutes when he drilled a low shot into the corner of the net.

Shoebridge inexplicably awarded a goal-kick with neither himself or the assistant spotting the ball had crossed the line.

Hackett,
general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, said:
'There's no doubt he'll be fretting away but we will give him the
support to rebuild him and get him back fresh for his next
appointment.

Furious: Palace boss Neil Warnock

'I think it will be a couple of weeks before
we bring him back. In the meantime he'll have the appropriate
discussion and debate with his codes in order to analyse very carefully
why it was missed.

'He probably was out of position, should have been thinking about that.'

But Johnson said that there was another explanation for the bizarre
events: 'I've made a few phone calls to find out exactly what happened
so it stops all the speculation,' he said.

'I've spoken to the assessor of the game and at that actual
incident, just after the ball went into the net, the linesman put his
flag in to the air.

'The referee ran over to the linesman who was still standing with his flag in
the air and obviously spoke to him.

'At this point nobody knew why the goal was not given. We all saw the ball hit
the back of the net. Then the referee didn't give the goal so at the end we
asked the referee why the goal wasn't given and he said 'for an infringement'.

'That doesn't make me a cheat, a liar or unsporting. That's what's
in the report and I think he [Keith Hackett] needs to apologise to
Bristol City fans, players and management now. They are the facts that
will come out of the report of that event.'

The Football League have ruled out the possibility of the game being replayed.